Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Martinez
Hi Charles, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was never a musician. I knew how to play simple piano melodies and could keep a rhythm drumming on a cafeteria table, but that was about it. My father was a dj in New York City and was always playing music at home around the family. Growing up I listened to a range of styles because of that. The one thing I picked up from this was how songs were composed and organized.
Jumping ahead, I would pay close attention to music production on every song I listened to. I remember when “Cry Me a River” came out. The layers on that song were so intricate and busy, yet everything flowed together smoothly. That era of music heavily influenced my production style later on. At that same time, Jay-Z was heavy in the mainstream market. He was diversifying his catalog and you could see the range his songs were starting to showcase. He was the first person who made me think about rapping and how I would approach my writing style if I were to ever get into music.
In high school, I was challenged to a rap battle amongst friends at school. Why they chose ME, I do not know. I had zero experience at this time with anything musically involved, but nonetheless, there was no getting out of it (if you knew my friends, you’d know I was stuck). We didn’t perform live in front of people for the battle, it was more so a written lyrically challenge against one another. Oddly enough, I got a good reception from my lyrics and people said I should do more. I eventually was given a Casio keyboard and a copy of FL Studio and started making instrumentals. From there, it grew to written songs and that into recordings. I continued that path into what it is today, a recording artist named CL KID (I was going with CLM, but I created a video game character on a wrestling game once and when the announcer said CLM it did NOT sound cool. So I kept the CL and chose a third word from the name bank they offered. Hence CL KID was official.)
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There’s different things with that. My challenge early on was equipment. I didn’t have my own computer and would rely on others to work with their programs. However, they didn’t seem to match my level of dedication to it. So I eventually grew annoyed and just bought everything all at once (at that time it was a financial risk to do so, but whatever). I learned the programs and started making my own beats. I would still record at a local studio for vocals. My biggest challenge with that was energy. I knew my flow and lyrics were there, but my energy was poor for sure. That improvement came with experience as I figured out my delivery and style over time. Then, suddenly the studio I recorded at was closing down. This put me in a situation where I had to either find a new place to record, or record at home. I decided to try recording on my own, and it went well enough that I stuck with it. Today I still record at home for all my projects.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a recording artist under the name CL KID. I am originally from Springfield, Massachusetts, but have been in the Orlando area for most my life now. I produce and rap/”sing” (not a great singer). I have a nonprofit organization called, Be the Reason. I partner with a good friend Johnny Ruiz teaching financial literacy to low income areas. The ability to give back is definitely something I am proud of. I would, of course, love to do even more with that and am always looking for partnering platforms to give help in any initiative that helps our city.
Musically, it’s hard to define my style. I do have a wide range of projects that make it hard to compare me to any “one” artist out there. I guess that in itself would set me apart from others. I think many artists will stick to one style for the most part or are clearly influenced by someone in particular. Anyone who has ever tried to explain my style, struggles to do so. That can be a bad thing, obviously making it hard to connect with my music. However, I choose to look at it as having the ability to be different over and over again.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have no idea lol I organize my favorite memories by person. Everyone in my life has a few memories that come to mind when I think of them, but I couldn’t really isolate a favorite memory overall. I would say that favorite memories are just compilations of spending time with my friends and family. Which is probably the same for everyone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.realclkid.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realclkid/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realclkid/
- Twitter: https://x.com/RealCLKid
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CLKID
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/clkid
- Other: https://linktr.ee/CLKID
